Windhoek - Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe has again attacked the
International Monetary Fund, describing it as "nonsense". He also took
a swipe at South Africa, accusing it of dominating the Southern
African Customs Union (Sacu).

Mugabe, who was on a four-day official visit to Namibia which ended on
Friday, told the Namibian business community at a dinner organised by
the Namibia Chamber of Commerce and Industry that "if you follow the
IMF you will not go anywhere. They will always prescribe for you." He
said countries in the region did not need to run to the IMF and to
Western donors for aid.

"We can help each other among ourselves," Mugabe said. "When we don't
have that capacity, then we are like economic slaves. We go begging.
There are still countries in Africa which go begging for money in
order to pay their civil servants, and they got independent in the
1960s."

The IMF has expressed concern over the deteriorating economic and
social conditions in Zimbabwe and called for payment of outstanding
arrears.

It also called for fundamental structural changes - including public-
enterprise and civil- service reforms - strengthened property rights
and improvements in governance.

Regarding South Africa's dominance of Sacu, Mugabe said: "Countries in
the region should be allowed to enter into trade agreements without
restrictions." He said the smaller members of Sacu had expressed a
desire to grow their economies but were being hampered by restrictions
in the regional organisation which had been imposed by South Africa.

How to plunder an economy...Zimbabwe already has the world's highest ... where an agrarian crisis has created food shortages. ... of the daily exodus to South Africa alone range up to 10,000. ... while openly supporting the government of Robert Mugabe....(soc.culture.zimbabwe)

Zimbabwes campaign of violence escalates... The international community seeks to influence the Mugabe government as Army ... and HARARE, Zimbabwe - The options for resolving ... Zimbabwe's crisis are dwindling as political violence rises ahead of the ... "Zimbabwe today is rather like apartheid South Africa, actually," Mr. ...(soc.culture.zimbabwe)